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Dick Powell
Acting
Biography
Richard Ewing "Dick" Powell (November 14, 1904 – January 2, 1963) was an American singer, actor, producer, director and studio boss.
Born in Mountain View, the seat of Stone County in northern Arkansas, Powell attended the former Little Rock College in the state capital, before he started his entertainment career as a singer with the Charlie Davis Orchestra, based in the midwest. He recorded a number of records with Davis and on his own, for the Vocalion label in the late 1920s.
Powell moved to Pittsburgh, where he found great local success as the Master of Ceremonies at the Enright Theater and the Stanley Theater. In April 1930, Warner Bros. bought up Brunswick Records which at that time …
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Richard Ewing "Dick" Powell (November 14, 1904 – January 2, 1963) was an American singer, actor, producer, director and studio boss. Born in Mountain View, the seat of Stone County in northern Arkansas, Powell attended the former Little Rock College in the state capital, before he started his entertainment career as a singer with the Charlie Davis Orchestra, based in the midwest. He recorded a number of records with Davis and on his own, for the Vocalion label in the late 1920s. Powell moved to Pittsburgh, where he found great local success as the Master of Ceremonies at the Enright Theater and the Stanley Theater. In April 1930, Warner Bros. bought up Brunswick Records which at that time owned Vocalion. Warner Bros. was sufficiently impressed by Powell's singing and stage presence to offer him a film contract in 1932. He made his film debut as a singing bandleader in Blessed Event. He went on to star as a boyish crooner in movie musicals such as 42nd Street, Footlight Parade, Gold Diggers of 1933, Dames, Flirtation Walk, and On the Avenue, often appearing opposite Ruby Keeler and Joan Blondell. Powell desperately wanted to expand his range but Warner Bros. wouldn't allow him to do so, although they did (mis)cast him in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935) as Lysander. This was to be Powell's only Shakespearean role and one he did not want to play, feeling that he was completely wrong for the part. Finally, reaching his forties and knowing that his young romantic leading man days were behind him he lobbied to play the lead in Double Indemnity. He lost out to Fred MacMurray, another Hollywood nice guy. MacMurray’s success, however, fueled Powell’s resolve to pursue projects with greater range and in 1944, he was cast in the first of a series of films noir, as private detective Philip Marlowe in Murder, My Sweet, directed by Edward Dmytryk. The film was a big hit and Powell had successfully reinvented himself as a dramatic actor. The following year Dmytryk and Powell re-teamed to make Cornered, a gripping, post-WWII thriller that helped define the film noir style. He became a popular "tough guy" lead appearing in movies such as Johnny O'Clock and Cry Danger. But 1948 saw him step out of the brutish type when he starred in Pitfall, a film noir that sees a bored insurance company worker fall for an innocent but dangerous femme fatale, played by Lizabeth Scott. Even when he appeared in lighter fare such as The Reformer and the Redhead and Susan Slept Here (1954) he never sang in his later roles. The latter, his final onscreen appearance in a feature film, did include a dance number with costar Debbie Reynolds. From 1949-1953, Powell played the lead role in the National Broadcasting Company radio theater production Richard Diamond, Private Detective. His character in the 30-minute weekly was a likable private detective with a quick wit. When Richard Diamond came to television in 1957, the lead role was portrayed by David Janssen.
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BODY OF WORK
Dick Powell's Filmography
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The Conqueror: Hollywood Fallout
as Self (archive footage)
Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
as Self (archive footage)
Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe
as Self (archive footage)
42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage
as Self (archive footage)
Gold Diggers: FDR'S New Deal... Broadway Bound
as Self (archive footage)
No Poster
Television: The First Fifty Years
as Self (archive footage)
That's Dancing!
Going Hollywood: The '30s
as (archive footage)
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
It's Showtime
as Self (archive footage)
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
as Self (archive footage)
Ricochet
as Self - Host
Who Killed Julie Greer?
as Host / Inspector Amos Burke
One Must Die
The All-Star Christmas Show
as Self
Susan Slept Here
as Mark Christopher
The Bad and the Beautiful
as James Lee Bartlow
You Never Can Tell
as Rex Shepherd
The Tall Target
as John Kennedy
Cry Danger
as Rocky Mulloy
Right Cross
as Rick Garvey
The Reformer and the Redhead
as Andrew Hale
Mrs. Mike
as Sgt. Mike Flannigan
Rogues' Regiment
as Whit Corbett
Station West
as Lt. John Martin Haven
Pitfall
as John Forbes
To the Ends of the Earth
as Commissioner Michael Barrows
Blow-Ups of 1947
as Self
Johnny O'Clock
as Johnny O'Clock
Cornered
as Laurence Gerard
Murder, My Sweet
as Philip Marlowe
Meet the People
as William 'Swanee' Swanson
It Happened Tomorrow
as Lawrence 'Larry' Stevens
True to Life
as Link Ferris
Riding High
as Steve Baird
Three Cheers for the Girls
as Singer (archive footage) (uncredited)
Happy Go Lucky
as Pete Hamilton
Star Spangled Rhythm
as Dick Powell
In the Navy
as Thomas Halstead
Model Wife
as Frederick "Fred" Chambers
Christmas in July
as Jimmy MacDonald
I Want a Divorce
as Alan MacNally
Naughty but Nice
as Professor Donald Hardwick
Hollywood Hobbies
as Self (uncredited)
Going Places
as Peter Mason
Breakdowns of 1938
as Elly Jordan (archive footage) (uncredited)
Hard to Get
as Bill Davis
Cowboy from Brooklyn
as Elly Jordan
Hollywood Hotel
as Ronnie Bowers
Breakdowns of 1937
as Self
Varsity Show
as Charles 'Chuck' Daly
The Singing Marine
as Bob Brent
On the Avenue
as Gary Blake
Gold Diggers of 1937
as Rosmer Peck
Stage Struck
as George Randall
Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)
as Self
Hearts Divided
as Jerome Bonaparte
Colleen
as Donald Ames
Dick Powell and Joan Blondell home movies: "No. 1, From beginning"
One And One Is One
as Himself
Dick Powell and Joan Blondell home movies: "No. 5"
Dick Powell and Joan Blondell home movies: "No. 3, Normie"
A Dream Comes True
as Himself (uncredited)
Things You Never See on the Screen
as Self
Thanks a Million
as Eric Land
Shipmates Forever
as Richard 'Dick' Melville III
A Midsummer Night's Dream
as Lysander
Page Miss Glory
as Bingo Nelson
Broadway Gondolier
as Richard 'Dick' Purcell, aka Ricardo Purcelli
Gold Diggers of 1935
as Dick Curtis
Flirtation Walk
as Dick "Canary" Dorcy
Happiness Ahead
as Bob Lane
Dames
as Jimmy Higgens
Studio Highlights
as Self (archive footage)
Twenty Million Sweethearts
as Buddy Clayton
Hollywood on Parade No. B-10
as Self
Wonder Bar
as Tommy
And She Learned About Dames
as Himself
Hollywood Newsreel
as Himself
Convention City
as Jerry Ford
College Coach
as Phil "Sarge" Sargeant
Footlight Parade
as Scotty
Gold Diggers of 1933
as Brad
42nd Street
as Billy Lawler
The King's Vacation
as John Kent
The Road Is Open Again
as The Songwriter
Just Around the Corner
as Jerry
Too Busy to Work
as Dan Hardy
Big City Blues
as Radio Announcer (voice) (uncredited)
Blessed Event
as Bunny Harmon